Abstract
This paper investigates the mitigating effect of governance quality on the finance-environment nexus in a multivariate EKC framework in 123 selected countries during the 1990–2017 period. We mainly employ the method of moments-quantile regression (MM-QR) with the fixed-effects model, among others. First, the MM-QR estimator reveals that financial development reduces environmental quality more significantly in countries with initially higher levels (the 75th and 90th quantiles) of CO2 emissions than in other countries (the 25th and 10th quantiles). Second, the attenuating effect of governance quality on the finance-environment nexus is more remarkable in nations with low initial levels (the 25th and 10th quantiles) of CO2 emissions. Third, we find that the marginal positive effect of financial development on CO2 emissions is smaller under a good regulatory framework than under corruption control and the rule of law, especially in the top emitters (the 75th and 90th quantiles). Fourth, unlike oil, which has a considerable negative impact on the environmental quality of the major emitters, renewable energy usage reduces CO2 emissions in countries in all quantiles, primarily in the lowest quantiles. Fifth, the findings also show that urbanization dramatically worsens environmental quality in all economies, particularly those in the lowest quantiles. Finally, we confirm that the EKC hypothesis holds in all countries across different quantiles. The study’s final section discusses policy implications for sustainable development in all countries.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the distinguished Prof. Roula Inglesi-Lotz and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
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This study was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China under Grant FJ3050A0670196.
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DFK conceptualized the article, wrote the methodology, implemented the econometric analysis, and discussed the findings. YL drafted the conclusion and policy implications. AR wrote the introduction and structured the study. XW compiled the data and the literature review. LKB reviewed the literature and edited the article. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Kassi, D.F., Li, Y., Riaz, A. et al. Conditional effect of governance quality on the finance-environment nexus in a multivariate EKC framework: evidence from the method of moments-quantile regression with fixed-effects models. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 52915–52939 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18674-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18674-5
Keywords
- Financial development
- Governance quality
- Renewable energy consumption
- CO2 emissions
- EKC hypothesis
- Method of moments
- Quantile regression